Secret Evil
by Rogue-Lu
Summary: You never know what will happen; begins with team 7 being given a mission... (this is my first fic... but it gets better as you get further, so read and review!)
1. The Mission

                                                                        Secret Evil

            This takes place after volume 22 after Sasuke returns… He was convinced by Naruto to come back, and though they're still rivals, they've come to more of an understanding of each other… It is exactly three weeks after Sasuke returns and he's recovered, and a little brighter then before… just a little. Oh and if you haven't read at least up to like uh volume 22 or so of Naruto, then you might be lost. Especially if you haven't read up to volume 3 or 4. But that's okay I guess. By the way this is my first fic. Like a lot of people. It might even be my only fic. I guess we'll just have to wait and see, huh? Well, enjoy…

Chapter 1: The Mission 

            As Kakashi awoke he thought it was early in the morning so he could read his "Come Come Paradise" a little before he got up and got ready. Before he knew it, it was past an hour of when he should have already been with his students, so he finally got up, ate a slow breakfast and took his time getting ready. Finally he took off. 

             "Sorry, I met an old friend of mine on the way and decided to – " 

             "YOU LIER!" Sakura and Naruto said together, pointing a finger at Kakashi-sensei.

             "Anyway… today we all have separate missions, since we ninjas have so many to do at this time of the era. Naruto… You're assigned to help rebuild the entertainment hall, which was completely destroyed by the sand nins. Sasuke, you're assigned to stand guard at the entertainment hall tonight before the concert begins…"

"CONCERT?" Sakura and Naruto exclaimed.

             "Ahem… there will be a concert tonight in the entertainment hall from 7:00 to whenever it ends…"

             "But if there's no building then how can there be a concert…?" Naruto questioned.

             "That's what you're there for. You'll have help, don't worry. It's supposed to be finished by 7:00." 

            Naruto grumbled but decided not to argue since he knew that he wouldn't be able to get something better to do. 

             "What about me, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.

             "Oh yeah, Sakura…" Kakashi looks on his paper and pauses. "You are the hostess. But you must also be on you're guard, so you're kind of guarding but also helping out with the event. I'll be out on my own mission, which is leading a squad of ninjas to spy on the sound nins. I won't be alone so don't worry about me, just worry about your own missions."

             "Kakashi-sensei! What about me, when I'm finished building the …thingy? And what will Sasuke and Sakura be doing before that?" Naruto asked loudly.

             "Oh, you'll stand guard with Sasuke during the concert, and Sasuke and Sakura will help you build. Sorry bout that. Any more questions?" Kakashi asked as a final. Sakura spoke up before he went on.

             "Why are we guarding this small entertainment hall? Is someone like Tazuna going to that concert or something?"

             "Probably not. If there is then I don't know. This mission was simply an order of the entertainment manager of that hall. And it's not small… in fact, it's the biggest one in Konohagakure… now… if there aren't any more questions then I'll be going now and good luck… and remember… teamwork – if any trouble occurs! You three are the only ninja's guarding that building if anything happens!" Within 3 seconds Kakashi disappeared, leaving them surprised.

             "What do you mean 'PROBABLY NOT!'?! I don't want to fight another Zabuza!" Sakura sighs as she goes mad.

             "Ahh! Challenge! Challenge! Challenge!" Naruto gets excited. Sasuke just coolly walks off towards the entertainment hall with his hands in his pockets, completely ignoring Sakura and Naruto's replies. 

             "Oh! Sasuke-kun! Please wait for meeee!" Sakura chases after him dreamily.

             "Sakura-chan! Wait for me!" Naruto follows.

            As the three of them arrive at the ashen entertainment center, they are greeted by a woman with black hair inside a hat and appears to be around in her 20s of age. "Hello there! I'm Marya, it's nice to meet you." She said as she extended a warm hand. Since Sasuke was the closest to her, he shook it without a word. Instead, Naruto spoke for him, being the loud kid he is.

             "HI THERE!! I'm Uzumaki Naruto and this is Sasuke and Sakura! Now what do we do first?! I wanna finish this as fast as possible!"

            Marya giggled as she replied, "Okay then, one of you can help Lu over there with the windows and one of you can help Quino with the walls, and one of you can start on the roof… get to work fast! We have two more people coming in the noon today to help. They'll be ninja's like you."

             "Huh? But Kakashi-sensei told us that we were the only ninjas…" Sakura said.

             "Oh, he did? Well… I guess he was wrong… now get to work!" Marya replied. Sakura and Naruto made a mental note to yell at Kakashi-sensei next time they see him as they slapped their foreheads.

            Naruto and Sasuke were already working, Naruto using 'Bushin' no Jutsu' became 7 clones to help work helping Quino, and Sasuke alone on the roof. Sakura went ahead and started on the windows. Marya was down on doors.

*           *            *

            By 12:30 noon the two ninja's showed themselves. Hinata and Shino. Hinata blushed when she saw Naruto there and ended up helping him with the building and Shino found his own business with his bugs helping him out, which made things go a lot faster. Pretty soon, Naruto's stomach started growling and he instantly demanded food, "HEY!!! I'M HUNGRY! LETS GO TO ICHIRAKU!" His sudden loudness surprised everyone and he was followed by a soft "Yeah!" from Sasuke, surprisingly (the first word he has said yet today). Everyone looked at the leader, Marya, and she was agreeable with the idea after peaking at her watch. 

             "Fine. Lunch break everyone! Be back here in approximately 30 minutes!" 

            Naruto was the first to be gone. Hinata shyly followed him, her index fingers tapping against each other nervously. "Oh hey, Hinata! I didn't see you there! I didn't know that you liked Ichiraku." Naruto said to her when he arrived at the restaurant.

             "U-umm… I just thought that you might have wanted company, Naruto-kun." 

            Naruto stared with uncertainty, thinking how strange but nice Hinata was. "Okay then! Oy! Joe! Gimme a miso ramen please!" Naruto demanded right when the store manager came up. "Hey Hinata, I have a question? If you and Shino are here, there where is Kiba?"

             "K-Kiba-kun had to work on a separate mission. He-he's on a search for a missing pet. K-Kurenai-sensei thought that since Kiba has Akamaru, then it would be better if he went instead of one of us." 

            Lunch turned out to be peaceful and nice. Everyone was back to work by 1:00. Quino and Lu turned out to be nice guys. Sakura became friends with them when she ate lunch with them. She learned that they were brothers and they both work together all the time building and repairing buildings as a living. She learned as well that they were in the concert tonight, Lu playing guitar and Quino singing. 'How exciting it would be to play an instrument!' inner Sakura stated.  Sasuke actually ate lunch with Shino. Neither of them talked much, but at least they talked at all. Shino only talked about his bugs and Sasuke only asked small questions about his bugs even though he didn't care. Shino seemed like a pretty cool guy to Sasuke.

            When they got back to work there was more conversation going on now that they all knew each other better. When Sakura asked Quino to sing, he did, which made all the attention on him for a while, while they worked. One of Naruto's clones clumsily dropped a log on Sasuke's head once by accident, which made Sasuke grumble a little and say, "Hey!" coldly throwing the log back at Naruto, which he caught and fell off the building catching it. Sakura laughed at them and went back to work. "Oops," A different Naruto clone said. "Sorry bout that Sasuke!" Sasuke just grumbled and went back to work. "What an idiot…" he whispered under his breath.

                                                *                        *                        *

            Finally, by 6:00PM they were all finished. The entertainment hall was restored and even bigger then it was before. The 7 Naruto clones clapped and gave a loud "WOOT!"

            Sakura turned to Marya and asked, "Since we finished an hour early, do we have an hour of free time?" 

             "Not until we get chairs, mic's, and the electricity going. But that shouldn't take too long." When she flipped the light switch, the light didn't turn on. "Well you guys are ninja's… anything you can do to…" Before she finished, Shino's bugs were already inside of the light switch, moving towards the light sources, producing light within seconds. "Wow!" Marya exclaimed. "Well that settles that… actually, you guys have you're job done. You can go ahead and take a break since you weren't told that you're supposed to get chairs and such."

             "Oooooooh yeeaaah!" Naruto was already getting excited.

             "But just remember to be back here by seven! All right? Okay! See you then!" Marya then walked off towards other buildings to do her own business.

             "Hey hey!!! Why not everyone come to my house to hang out? We can eat ramen and train together! Huh?! Whaddya say guys!" Naruto asked them excitedly.

             "…" Shino just walked off without a word, reminding Naruto that he wasn't his kinda guy. 

            Sakura agreed since it sounded nice (and that Sasuke might be there). "Sounds good to me!"

            Hinata shyly responded, "Y-yeah, let's go!"

            It turns out that all of them followed to Naruto's house, even Sasuke who didn't really have anything to do anyway. When they started walking, Naruto noticed a fly swinging around him as he walked. He tried to sway it off but it kept coming back. After a while he gave up. About halfway there, Naruto stopped walking, as if in study of something that caught his attention. "Wait…" Was all he said as everyone stared confusedly. 

            Suddenly, what appeared at first to be a creature, came out from the bushes and caught Quino by the neck, almost killing him instantly, but Sasuke was standing right next to him and almost instantly elbowed the human in the stomach, sending him off of Quino. He could tell that this person was a sand nin. It was a girl with very long black hair, wearing the sand nin uniform. She stopped when she noticed Sasuke, and for some reason, she even backed away.

             "Y…you… you survived too?! S-Sasuke…" She said in a quivering voice. Her voice sounded strangely familiar to Sasuke. As did her face, when she removed her mask. His eyes widened when he saw her eyes. They were red and they had three black nut-shaped circles in them.

             "Who are you? Don't tell me… you're…" He paused.

             "Yes, it's me. It's Varlene… Listen, Sasuke! If you want to talk to me… Then you'll have to talk to me personally… I'm… I'm sorry!" The girl said to him seriously. 

"Wait Sasuke-kun! Don't! She might hurt you!" Sakura stepped in.

"Sakura-sama… stay out of this…" Sasuke replied as he led 'Varlene' towards his Uchiha home. Sakura listened to him and stayed out of it, but still was slightly worried. Then she realized, 'Did Sasuke-kun… did he just call me… SAMA?!' She gasped softly, then got over it shortly. 

             "What was that?" Lu asked confusedly.

             "It could have been Sasuke's cousin… or even sister!" Naruto said. "Anyhow, he'll show up eventually and tell us all the news. I wanna eat!" Naruto continued walking home, in which he was almost there.

            While they walked, Hinata asked, "Do you think… I mean… Well… Do you think that Sasuke-kun might join the sand nins? I-I mean if that's his relative…"

            She was cut-off by a loud Sakura. "Of course not! Sasuke-kun will never leave us! Even if he tries, we'll find a way to bring him back just as before!"

             "R-right… I'm sorry…" Hinata trailed off, her fingers tapping nervously again.

            When the five of them reached Naruto's home, a silent Shino surprisingly greeted them. He was standing there, staring at a certain bug on his on his nose, just waiting silently for them to arrive.

             "Hmm…" Was all he said. Then, following Naruto, he walked on inside.

                                    **Please R&R!!!**


	2. Uchiha Varlene

            Chapter 2: Uchiha Varlene

            When Sasuke and Varlene entered the Uchiha house, there was only staring for a few seconds, then Sasuke spoke first, still staring at her with a confused face. "Okay, lets start with this… How did you survive Itachi's wrath?"

            "How did YOU survive Itachi's wrath?!" She countered.

            "Fine. I ran. I ran as fast as I could and decided to live a life of only running from him. I did exactly what he told me. I clang to life and survived in unsightly ways. Just as he said. But now… I've changed. The people that I love are no longer people that I just see and ignore every day; they are now actually people that I love… not too recently did I change, but I did, and I'm going to get my revenge with this new feeling!" Sasuke held up a fist, showing Varlene a determined face. "Now… tell me how YOU survived, Varlene." He demanded as his fist relaxed.

            Varlene took a deep breath before she began talking. "Itachi… he did hunt me down, and he still is…. I listened to the gossip about our family and that's when I heard about us. But I never heard that YOU survived! What I heard was 'The whole Uchiha clan was wiped out by Uchiha Itachi!' I know that I would be the only one left, the only one to continue the Uchiha clan… but I guess I was wrong… and I knew that Itachi would be after me. He's the only one other then you that knows about me in fact… that's why I became a sand ninja, so it's more unlikely for him to find me. When he found me that one-day, I got so scared. I thought that that would be it that I would die because I just knew that I didn't stand a chance… But… he found me when I was in public. I was in the leaf country at that time, and the only way I got away from him was using a technique that he himself had taught me. That's when I decided to start traveling a lot and moving around in different countries all the time. Pretty soon I decided to just go and become a sand ninja since the sand is at war with the leaf, and since Itachi KNEW that I love leaf, always talking about it being homesick and all, he would think that I wouldn't be with the war. So I'm acting as if I am… And I'm somewhat starting to understand the sand country, so I actually don't mind attacking leaf as much as I started off doing it. Even though I still hate it, I keep reminding myself to stay with –"

            Before Varlene could continue, there was a sound from the window. Her eyes widened as she instantly covered her face back up with her cloth- mask, ready to hide. It was literally just the flapping of a bird's wings. "It's just a bird, Varlene… You really **are** cautious."

            "Ah… thank god… ::sigh:: Yes, I HAVE to be cautious or else someone will find me."

            "What will you do if they will?"

            "Just like before. I'll act normal. Like I'm not suspicious. And if they realize that I'm Itachi's twin sister and about my horrid disease then I… could just kill them, I guess. If I had no choice that is. I just hate killing, that's all."

            "Then how do you support the war? And… you were about to kill Quino. Remember?" Sasuke questioned.

            Varlene laughed at Sasuke's confusion. "Actually, all that was that I was about to do to that guy was a knock out. I call it my 'Fake-Death' attack. I made it up. It looks like he's dead, but really he's just unconscious and lost a little blood. I can't do it to ninja's above the level of a Genin, and that's really all I need to get through this war act. The thing is, you see, they remember what happens before they go unconscious. I don't know how to do that and then give them amnesia. I don't even know a jutsu that has the effect of amnesia… I wouldn't want to do that either, because it's kind of bad even if it's not as bad as killing someone…" 

            "So… how did you keep up with you're disease anyway without us, since mother and father died? We supplied you with all you're medicine and anti-contact lotion stuff, whatever it was called."

            "Well… I hardly did. I didn't know what was going on that weekend when I came home and no one was there. (You were probably at the training academy because you always were when I came over in those days.) My lotion always runs out before my medicine does, so that meant that I couldn't get anywhere near anyone until I got that lotion on my skin or else someone would most likely die from my disease and then it could even spread all around and wipe out every human being if they didn't control it like I do with that lotion. So anyway, I eventually decided that I needed to come in contact with someone or else I would eventually die, or even plague the world. From where I was hiding, I met a small child named 'Shino'. He was a very quiet kid but-"

                        "Shino?!"

            "Yeah, Shino. You know him? He seemed you're age when this happened. Quite young. He had some strange obsession with bugs, but that's just what saved my life."

            "Yeah, actually I do know Shino. Just made friends with him today in fact."

            "Really. He came to talk to me everyday, and if not everyday, his bugs did, and he even taught me how to understand his bugs. He would use his bugs as a shield from my disease. When I met him, he was training in the woods quite close where my cave hideout is, and he was too far away from me to catch my disease then. That was when I told him, because somehow I knew that I could trust him. He would go to the store for me every week to get my lotion and every other week to get my medicine. I was so thankful for him at first, I couldn't even believe how generous a child could be. Then we became close friends and I got used to his quiet generousness. He's like a brother to me, not as you are, but that is the kind of friendship we have. Though I never told him my name, we are still very close."

            After a long pause, Sasuke broke the silence. "You look almost exactly like Itachi does. Just like that four years ago. I thought that you would look a lot different, but you really don't. You look just like… Mother… oh god how I miss her and Father… How we would always argue on what's for dinner on those weekends when you came over, and then she would fix something that neither of us argued over… how Father would try all the time to get me to finally choose one of the millions of girls that stare at me every day…-"

            "Ooohh… Sasuke!" Varlene interrupted. "You have a **girlfriend** now?" She teased.

            "N-no! I never said-"

            "Tell me! Tell me! What's her name?! What's she look like? Come on now!"

            Sasuke never knew that his sister was so nosey. "Listen… I said that I do **not** have a girlfriend nor do I want one!" He blushed. Varlene giggled as she went back remembering her family also. Sasuke sighed. "So what were you doing here in the first place?"

            "Huh?" Her thoughts came back to reality. "I'm supposed to be on a 'killing spree'. A mission ordered directly from Kazekage… Sasuke… I don't know. Now that I know that you're alive… I don't know if I really should stay with the sand. I can stay with you and you can help me! Besides, I don't know how long I'm going to be able to keep up this act. I hate acting evil deeds. So… will you help me, brother?"

            "Yeah, of course. Maybe my friends will even help you. Like Naruto…"

            "Who's Naruto?"

            "You saw him, I think, he was leading us towards his house when we were walking. Remember? That small blonde kid in an orange uniform, that's Naruto. I hate that idiot… but he's really nice and he'll most definitely help out."

            "What, is he on you're team or something? Who else is on you're team?"

            "Yeah; Haruno Sakura, and Hatake Kakashi is my sensei."

            "Kakashi? Sharingan Kakashi? I've heard of him. Wow." She said. There was a pause before Sasuke spoke.

            "Varlene… tell me something… did you… did you mentally have a hard time after Itachi died? Did you make it you're life-long goal to get revenge on him?"

            "Hmm… I wasn't obsessed with that, but yes. I still plot to get my revenge on him. I guess we both do. But you've probably had a harder time then I did, huh… You spent a **lot** of time with Itachi four years ago."

            "Yeah… I still can't believe he did that!" His fist came back up and slammed against the wall. 

            "Sasuke…" Varlene started, looking at Sasuke with a serious look. "Are we in this together or not? Because either one of us or both of us must kill him…"

            "We both want the same revenge, right? So I say we do it together…" He said understandingly.

            "Oh Sasuke! I knew you would understand. I knew that I couldn't do it alone, but I deserved to get this revenge on my own… Now I have you! We'll definitely get him with us as a team!" She said enthusiastically. Sasuke knew that Varlene was definitely the most cheerful out of the three of them, but not **this** cheerful. 

            There was a long pause of silence between the two siblings. So long that the silence became louder than when they were talking. Even when it seemed that way, there was still silence. Uchiha Varlene started looking around the house, remembering it. It hasn't changed at all. When she looked back, she saw a very emotional Sasuke. His eyes were watered up and he looked depressingly joyous, but his eyes were still serious. Suddenly he flung his arms around the older girl and stayed there. He stayed there for a long time, silent. Varlene embraced him back in a sisterly-love way.

            "I've missed you too, Sasuke." She whispered back softly, letting a tear fall from her eye.


	3. The Concert

[Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto Masashi, my Lord, owns Naruto. I worship him and only him. (That was a joke)]

Chapter Three: The Concert

            "Ramen comin' right up guys! Who wants chicken flavor?" Naruto came in loudly with a bowl of ramen. The room was filled with ninja's, talking about mainly Sasuke.

            "Um, I think I'll have chicken, thank you Naruto-kun." Hinata shyly ordered.

            "I think it's been too long a time… Sasuke-kun could be hurt! Didn't you see the look on that woman's face? We should go to his house and check!" Sakura worried, almost completely ignoring Naruto's request.

            "…Don't worry. Sasuke is fine…" Shino said.

            "How do _you_ know? I'm going to check on him…" She argued. But Shino grabbed her arm, nodding. Sakura then gave in, sighing in a concerned manner as she sat back down. 

            "What do you think, Lu?" She asked him.

            "Um… I really don't know. I don't know that much about Sasuke and his past. I think maybe we should listen to Shino there because ah I don't know. I guess because Sasuke seemed to know what he was doing back there with that girl."

            "So chicken is you're favorite flavor, Hinata-sama? I like the miso flavor the best!" Naruto interestingly claimed, ignoring the conversation in the other room. 

            "Erm… Yes, I like the chicken flavor. It does taste like chicken…" She giggled. She was excited that he called her _'sama'_. Naruto laughed before taking a big bite of noodles. Wow. Hinata told a joke. Quino stood up to walk towards the food just before there was heard knocking on Naruto's front door. Sakura instantly stood up to answer it, still in her nervous mood.

            She opened the door and there stood Sasuke. She smiled warmly and let him in, "Come on in and tell us about…" Then she saw Varlene. She gasped instead of going on, but let her in anyway since Sasuke was telling her with his hand that she was a friend. 

            "Don't worry. I won't hurt you. Is you're friend okay? I'm sorry if I hurt you…" Varlene bowed to Sakura in apology. Quino came from behind Sakura.

            "Oh no I'm okay really. Don't mind me." He said to her politely and bowed back.

            "Listen… This is my sister, Varlene. You guys remember Itachi, my brother? Varlene is Itachi's younger twin. That's why she looks so much like him, but don't worry. She won't hurt us…" Sasuke told his friends about Varlene and her disease and all about her, reminding them many times that she should stay as secret so that she wouldn't cause panic in society about her disease. And just in case there were any enemy spies around that could be listening. They all were surprised when Shino mentioned that he's the one who helps Varlene keeping up with her medication and lotion.

            "Sasuke, what exactly **is** her disease?" Naruto asked him.

            Varlene spoke instead, "No one has ever had it before, so no one really knows what it is. I call it the 'dechanitos'. Dad told me that if I don't take my medication, then the dechanitos will completely take over my body and it will quickly kill me by eating through my blood cells and veins within a week or two, and it's kind of like catching the flu. I become very weak if I don't take my medication, and I bleed everywhere. The dechanitos gives me holes right where my chakra points are sometimes, I don't know why, and I have to wait for it to heal back up before I can perform a jutsu or else it will hurt. My lotion somewhat helps that but it still sucks… It also makes me really dizzy, and I have trouble seeing sometimes."

            "Hey, why can't you get the medication and lotion yourself?" Naruto asked.

            "I don't like being around people. Normal people fear my Sharingan eyes. And it's not like I can change that because somehow I was born with my eyes like this and they have never changed. I just don't get along with people… And I don't have any money. I used to pay Shino for buying my medication and lotion, but then I went out of money and he was nice enough to get it for me anyway. That money was what I had from what my parents gave me for when I traveled around a lot. 

            "Ah… If there's anything I can do to help then I'll do it! You shouldn't have to worry about all that and still be a ninja!" Naruto said after a pause of Varlene's explanation. Varlene blushed.

            "You'll really help me? Wow, Sasuke you're friends are very nice! I wish I had friends like you guys!"

            "Well, now you do!" Sakura said cheerfully with a smile. Everyone else in the room gave her a determined "yep" smile.

            Lu looked at the time and stood up in a panicked manner. "We should go! Like, now! It's already past 7:00! We'll be late! Oh! My guitar! I still have to go get it and… Oh no!" He ran out the door, being followed by a panicked Quino. Everyone else except Varlene didn't really care. They were tired.

            "Guitar? What's going on?" She asked.

            "Oh yeah. There's a concert tonight at the uh entertainment hall. Our mission is to attend it and guard. That's all." Sasuke said as he walked out the door. Everyone else followed him. Hinata was tapping her fingers nervously. 'I get to spend this whole day with Naruto-kun… maybe-' Naruto interrupted her thought.

            "Come on! Lets go Hinata! Time to rock and roll!" He said. She blushed as she followed along behind Naruto.

            "Sasuke… it will be so much of an honor for me to attend a concert. I love music so much, it's almost like I'm not worthy of hearing such beauty." Varlene said to him.

            "Don't worry about it. Maybe you can even play in it if Marya says its okay. (Marya is the one who helped us build the place.) Do you think you can still play flute and guitar?"

            "What do you mean can I still play? Of course I can! I'm the one who taught you, remember?" She laughed. "I miss it so much… I can't believe I haven't played in four years. Can _you_ still play?"

            "Of course…"

            "What? You play guitar and flute, Varlene-san?" Sakura overheard.

            "Oh yes… when I was young, around three or four, I was on different medication and it was hard for me to keep up with my normal routine because I would get sick really fast, and if I did much then I would start bleeding in places. So Mom and Dad bought me a flute and guitar. I learned pretty fast because I already knew how to play piano. Mom would teach me how to play piano and I loved learning from her. When I was like six or seven she told me that I was better then her and that I couldn't learn anymore; I had to start teaching myself. I started teaching Sasuke because I thought that he would like to learn since he always asked me to play while he trained, and I didn't really know how I could teach myself without knowing how to teach someone first."

            "Sasuke-kun? You can play piano and..? Wow! You're even more amazing then I thought, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura flirted. Naruto made a determined, angry face.

            "I bet playing music isn't that hard! Sasuke probably isn't even anywhere near as great as Varlene-san." He said. 

            Varlene laughed. "Actually, Sasuke became better then me when I turned 14. He would make up his own tunes and never stop playing sometimes. I thought of him as a prodigy, still do. I just wonder if you still play at all." She laughed again. Sakura stuck her tongue at Naruto and Hinata giggled. 

            By this time in the conversation they were arriving the entertainment hall. "You're late! But I guess that's okay. Come on in and enjoy you're mission." Marya smiled as she greeted them. She ignored Varlene, thinking that she was just a friend of theirs.

            When they walked into the building, the sound of Quino's voice and Lu's guitar approached their ears. Naruto was excited. He's never been to a concert before and he didn't listen to much music as it was. But when he saw Sasuke standing by the front door, he remembered that he was supposed to be guarding. So he went to stand next to the front door also, ready to be on patrol.

            "I've got the front. You're supposed to guard the back, idiot…" Sasuke provoked.

            "What! No one told me so!" 

            "Common sense… there is two sides of the building. The front and the back. I'm already guarding the front, so what side do you think you're supposed to guard?" Naruto was now annoyed. He was about to say something against it, but then he saw Sasuke move. "Fine. I'll get the back. No big deal." Then he coolly smiled to Naruto. What? Sasuke smiled at me? Haha… Naruto laughed. But wait. We're not rivals anymore since that incident with the sound ninjas. Or are we? He stopped laughing and looked at Sasuke, who was walking towards the back door already too far away for Naruto to say anything to him. 'Sasuke? Are you feeling okay?'

                                                                        *            *            * 

            Sakura was carrying a plate of drinks as she smiled at Sasuke who passed her. He took a cup and said "Thanks," with a smile before he proceeded towards the back door. She blushed. 'Sasuke-kun smiled at me!' It was the end of a song and Quino walked up to her to get a drink. "Water is a very nice thing when you're singing…" He said before drinking the whole thing in one gulp. Sakura smiled.

            "I'm sure it is." Then she walked on, offering people drinks.

            Hinata was standing somewhat close to the front door, peeking every now and then at Naruto, holding a drink. She just couldn't get the courage to go and talk to him. Why not? Just a small conversation, that's all she wanted. She slowly walked towards Naruto and said, "G-good evening, N-Naruto-kun."

            "Oh hey Hinata! How are ya?" He asked.

            "Uh, I-I brought you a-a drink. I-in case you're thirsty." She stuttered. 

            "Oh thanks! You're really nice!" Naruto accepted the drink, smiling his fox smile. 

            Shino was standing in the corner, staring at who knows what through his sunglasses. Not much else to say there.

            Varlene sat in a chair, reading a book about ninjustu, waiting for the next song to come up. When it did, she stood up to listen. It was a girl singing a slow song. She looked somewhat familiar to Varlene. As if she's seen this girl before. The pianist who was playing as her accompanist seemed familiar too. He wore glasses, and…hmm… lots of scars on his face. This seemed slightly suspicious to Varlene. Something wasn't right. Then the girl who was singing looked at her. The girl didn't look away. It was almost as if she was angry or something because her eyes widened strangely. Her voice cracked, and she looked at the pianist and nodded. What's going on? Varlene was confused. The singing stopped right in the middle of nowhere. Then it got to her. 'That girl! I know her!'

            Marya looked to see why the singing had stopped. The singer had gotten off of the stage and walked up to Varlene. Marya went up to the girl, confused. "What are you doing here?" She overheard the girl say.

            "I-" Before Varlene could talk, she saw Marya there.

            "What's going on?"

There was silence between both of them.

            "Why did you stop singing, Mikota?"

            The girl, Mikota looked back and forth at Varlene and Marya. It took her a long time to answer. "I… I needed a drink of water. My throat hurts. I'm sorry. I couldn't go on." Her voice was harsh and stressed. She took Varlene's glass of water from her hand and drank all of it. Then she slammed it on the nearest table, almost breaking the glass. She walked back onto the stage and finished her song. Marya stared. 

            "M-Mikota…?"

            Varlene walked off to get another drink of water, ignoring Marya. After getting the water, she walked towards Sasuke, and was getting more nervous by the minute. 

            "What was that?" He asked.

            She was standing on the outside of the door so that no one but Sasuke could see her. "That was Mikota, a sound ninja. And the pianist is a sound ninja also…" She was looking around to make sure no one was seeing her while she talked.

            "Varlene… You don't have to stay here. You can go." Sasuke mentioned.

            "No! They'll attack, so I have to help-" Before she went on, she gasped and looked behind her. A sound ninja. Sasuke had no clue where he came from.

            "Help who?" He asked, suspiciously and slowly. "Help _us_?" Varlene was shaking. "Or help _them_?" He waited, crossing his arms. Sasuke didn't know what to do. Should he attack? Or should he act like he was on their side, spying also? "Linko Setsuna! Answer me!"

'Linko Setsuna?' Sasuke wondered. It must be the name that she used to hide her real name from the enemy.

            Varlene hesitated before she spoke. "This… is Uchiha Sasuke." She said slowly, speaking faster by the word. Sasuke was totally confused. "Orochimaru-kun… is looking for him?" She waited for an answer. Sasuke could somewhat see where this was going, but didn't suspect at all the next thing.

            "Y-yes… go on…"

            Varlene didn't go on. After finishing her water, she threw it against the ground, letting it shatter. Then she punched Sasuke really hard in the face, knocking him out. She caught him when he fell. "I was paying him a favor. Come on, let's go and give Orochimaru-kun his body." She said, smiling evilly at the sound ninja. They disappeared into the night.

                                                            *            *            *

**~(muhuahahaha… my first cliffhanger! XD)~**


	4. Escape!

           [I changed this story's rating to a PG-13 because of this chapter. There's a little gore and death, that's all.]

Chapter 4: Escape!

            Sakura dropped the tray of drinks when she saw Varlene running off with a sound ninja, carrying Sasuke-kun in her arms. "Sasuke-kun!" She cried. The singer saw her, noticing that a racket has started. It was the end of her song when she began to make an announcement.

            The crowd seemed to like her song. They cheered her on before she could speak. She had to calm them before she did so. "…I have an announcement to make to all of you! I would like to say that all of you are fools and I would also like to thank the ninja team for building this entertainment hall for me to sing in. I'm sorry to say, but you ninja's have built your own deathbed. It's been nice being with you people of the leaf, and now I bid you all farewell…" She curtsied to the confused crowd, bowing her head very low, letting her hair fall on her face. She did not stand back up. Naruto ran up to the stage yelling.

            "Who do you think you _are_?! What was that supposed to mean?! What's going on?!"

            The singer had disappeared. The one who was playing piano stood up and took off his glasses, showing his scarred face. He bowed also, and disappeared. Sakura answered Naruto's question. "It means that they are the enemy!" She ran out the door to chase Varlene. "We were tricked! Varlene tricked us!" Naruto was confused.

            "But…" Then it got to him. The Uchiha was a very dark clan, how could one of the Uchiha be so generous? She really _was_ acting all along. An angry grin appeared on his face. Shino disappeared. Hinata was trying to talk to Naruto, trying to get him out of his train of deep thoughts.

            But then… there was an explosion. Kaboom! Everything that Naruto could see suddenly transformed into fire and ashes filled the atmosphere. He couldn't breath… soon enough, he couldn't see either and his consciousness left him completely.

            Shino ran. He saw Sakura, who just looked back to see the extreme explosion. She screamed as she stopped running. "Naruto! Hinata! Quino! Lu! I can't believe this! No!" Tears streamed down her face. "Marya! You were fooled!"

            "Sakura! Snap out of it! Naruto and Hinata are fine; my bugs are protecting them. I don't know about…" Then Lu appeared before both of them. He was laughing.

            "I can't believe how well this worked out! You really _are_ fools!"

            "Lu! I can't believe you! You're a sound ninja?!" Sakura screamed.

            "I come from the sand." Lu explained. Quino came from behind him. "This is my teammate, Brukichi Royha. My name is Luricha Moviku. Sorry about lying to you earlier, but I've got a job to do…" He pulled out a sword from inside his cape and swung at Shino with it. Sakura was going through crisis. She looked at Varlene who was almost at the point where she couldn't be seen. Sakura ran, but was stopped by Royha. 

            "Have I ever told you how beautiful you are, Sakura-chan?" Royha flirted. "You would make a great kunoichi for our team." Sakura backed away. Should she fight back? Royha walked towards her slowly, staring at her in obvious admiration. "Join us, and we'll give you anything you've ever wanted!" Sakura looked over at Shino, who was fighting Moviku. Then she started feeling drowsy. When she looked back at Royha, she saw him performing a jutsu with an evil grin on his face. She couldn't help but think about what he was telling her. No! Inner Sakura came out. 'I can't listen to him! He's manipulating me! How dare him!' Inner Sakura was whey too stubborn to fall for Royha's jutsu. But she still was very drowsy.

            "Sakura! Look out!" Shino shouted. It was no use. Moviku had grabbed her in a headlock, holding his sword against her throat. Shino acted quickly. His mouth was filled with bugs, and his hands were producing them as well. They instantly were on Moviku as he slit Sakura's throat, making it seem as if he had killed her. Then her body turned into a log. Sakura came down from the sky with a kunai in each of her hands and fell on Royha, knocking him down and stabbing him in the heart and neck. The bugs consumed Moviku. Shino did nothing but stand there. "Now you know not to mess with the leaf." He said to him. Then he raised his arms, commanding his bugs back to him. Sakura was busy massacring Royha. When she was convinced that he was dead, she got up and chased as fast as she could towards Varlene, the serious look on her face made her look older. Shino followed quickly.

                                                          *            *            *

            Hinata couldn't breath. She coughed and coughed. The fire was everywhere, and fumes and smoke literally _was_ the atmosphere. She searched for Naruto through the smoke and found him coughing. She gasped, "Naruto-kun! Are you okay!?" 

            Naruto stood up. "Hinata-sama? Let's get out of here! Come on!" He grabbed her arm and ran out as fast as he could. A few flames burned him as he tried dodging it, and protecting Hinata from them at the same time. Hinata was blushing, only worried if Naruto would get hurt. Then she remembered something.

            "N-no! We must look for survivors first!" 

            Naruto gasped. "That's right!" He said as a burning log fell upon him. He moved out of its way just in time, Hinata right behind him. "There's Marya!" He pointed as he ran towards her, dodging flames. "Marya-chan!" She was hardly breathing and had blood all over her body. "I'll help you get out! Hold on!" Naruto said to her.

            "…W-wait… Y-you won't need… to worry about me… Naruto and H-Hinata… Listen… I _was_ fooled. I had… n-no clue that Mikota… was a sound ninja. I'm so sorry…" Marya said.

            "Stop talking! I'll get you out of here! Just hold on!" Naruto picked her up and started towards the door. Hinata used Byakugan to look for other survivors. She found two; laying right next to each other and told Naruto that she'd be right back. When Naruto reached the exit, he placed Marya on the grass, a good number of yards away from the building to be safe from the fire. But when he saw her pale face, he panicked. "Marya-chan! Wake up!" She only lay there, quiet and life-less. He winced, and ran back to Hinata. She was trying to carry two people at the same time. Naruto went to help her out. "Marya-chan! She…she-"

            "I know. All of her Chakra points stopped." She bowed her head in sorrow as she reached the exit. "N-Naruto-kun…"

            "Yeah, Hinata-chan?"

            Hinata couldn't believe what she was about to ask him. 'Would you cry for me if I had died?' She decided that she should wait for a better time to talk to him about her feelings. "I-I mean… I'll go and check for more survivors." Naruto stared with a confused face. 'Strange girl…' Then he looked back at the two people who were lying next to Marya. One was a man, the other a woman. He bent down to check both of their pulses. The woman was alive, but the man…

            "I can't find any survivors! This is horrible, Naruto-kun!" Hinata ran up. She looked at the two people lying in the soft grass. "Here, give both of them this. And spread this on their wounds." She handed Naruto a cup of liquid and a jug of some other liquid, then started running towards the building again.

            "Hinata-chan! I can't feel this man's pulse! Are you sure he's alive?"

            "Yes! Give him the medicine, fast! No wait… let me do it…" She could hardly think. Here she was in such a suspenseful situation, alone with her crush, and she was almost telling him what to do. She ran back towards him and pulled out a small tube-ish needle. She dipped it in the jug and then stabbed it into the man's heart. Both Hinata and Naruto winced. "Hurry! Spread this medicine on the woman's wounds, or else…" She didn't finish. Naruto was already on it. Naruto then realized that there were dead bugs on his hands. He swayed them off of him before he continued the nursing. "Naruto-kun… how did we survive and they didn't?" Hinata asked him just as she realized that they two were the only ones unharmed. Then it got to him.

            "Oh! It must have been Shino!" Naruto said, looking at himself, finding more dead bugs.

            Hinata looked at herself, seeing two dead bugs on her left shoe. "Shino-kun's bugs! They protected us from the explosion! But Naruto-kun… where is Sasuke-kun and everyone else? And we don't know where the enemy went. They disappeared on the stage. We don't even know if they were the only ninja's." Hinata, using Byakugan and started searching around the area while holding the tube-needle in the woman's chest.

            "We'll find them… Shino and Sakura-chan are after them…" Naruto looked around. He could somewhat see a small display of people in a direction. "That way!" He pointed. Surprisingly, Hinata's Byakugan couldn't even see it. She hid her amazement in her pink face. Naruto looked back at her. "I can leave and chase after them while you help these people." Hinata thought for a moment.

            "Go on. I'll catch up." She said, removing the needle from the woman's heart and felt her pulse come back to her. She blushed. 'I get to spend like half of this day with Naruto-kun!' Naruto was off, and just after Hinata packed back all of her medicines, she ran after Naruto to follow.

            But then a sudden random sand ninja came and grabbed Hinata by the throat almost killing her instantly. But Naruto saw it coming before it happened, and had the ninja's weapon used against him. "You chose the wrong people to pick on!" Naruto told him. Hinata escaped the ninja, studying his chakra with her Byakugan. Hinata saw the sand ninja about to use a jutsu, so she attacked him from behind, interrupting his flow. "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto yelled as he transformed into 5 different bunshins. Four of them attacked while one was left using Rasengan. All four clones held the enemy while Hinata backed away. It wasn't enough. The sand ninja started forming a seal and his body had turned into sand and fell to the ground. Hinata could see him in the air, about to attack her again, but she moved fast enough to dodge his attack. The Naruto clone that had Rasengan ready attacked the ninja head on. Hinata could see that this was the real Naruto who was using Rasengan. She got into her Taijutstu stance just in case he would miss or something would go wrong. But Naruto didn't miss; he hit the sand ninja right in the stomach, letting him fall to the ground in pain. Naruto looked at Hinata, and she nodded.

            "He's dead." She said. Naruto realized that this was the ninja playing piano in the entertainment hall once he looked closer. 

            "Hinata-chan," Naruto began. "Are the survivors okay?"

            "Yes. Both of them should get better within an hour. If not then someone would help them. It's a pretty big fire, I think that villagers would be suspicious." After a few seconds, they both nodded and ran towards where Naruto saw people running earlier.

                                                            *            *            *

            As Linko Setsuna looked behind her, she could see people chasing after her. "Setsuna, what is it?" Her teammate asked her.

            "Vinsu, we're being chased. But there's a good chance they won't catch us. Let's hurry anyway!" Setsuna had her mask covering her face now as she carried Sasuke. They would be a while before they reached the Sound Country. Luckily, it was the closest country to where they were. But then Setsuna sensed someone's presence nearby. She looked around but found no one.

            Suddenly, Hatake Kakashi appeared in front of both of them, stopping them in their tracks. Vinsu laughed. "Sharingan Kakashi, sensei of Sasuke's team… you'll have to go through both of us to get him back. Sorry but we play this game the hard way…" Vinsu tried landing a punch on Kakashi but without success. Kakashi was instantly on Setsuna, trying to get Sasuke out of her arms. It wasn't any use because she went on running towards the Sound Country, keeping her eyes covered well. She completely ignored Vinsu's and Kakashi's life-threatening battle going on; she could only run as fast as she could. Soon, she was able to begin seeing the buildings of the Sound Country. Almost there, she told herself. As she entered the country, she slowed down, and for the first time, looked behind her. There was no one. Her running speed was at least 40mph, even though she could go faster, but she didn't want to waste her stamina in case she had to run a very long distance. She caught her breath and walked towards the village. Then she saw Kakashi there, leaning against the side of a building. Setsuna straightened herself. What now? Run some more? Attack? Then Kakashi spoke, stopping her from doing anything. She instantly looked away to hide her eyes.

            "Put down the kid; unless you want to be killed. There's no way that Uchiha Sasuke is going to be in Orochimaru's presence with me around." Setsuna stepped back.

            "I must bring him back to Orochimaru no matter what…" She talked back. "But I do not wish to fight you because I don't want to die… Please don't kill me. Orochimaru must have Sasuke back." Setsuna was thinking of what to do as she talked. Her goal was to waste time with him talking so that maybe help would come for her when they fight, _if_ they fight.

            Kakashi was confused. A sound ninja begging for mercy but still refusing to surrender? How… stupid. "Sorry but that's just how life is. I can't let Sasuke in Orochimaru's presence…" He tried getting a look at her face perhaps… or _his_ face? The sound ninja was clothed in black, and comparing that with the night was not an easy thing to distinguish. And if this ninja was a woman, she sure had a deep, mysterious voice. Something about this ninja reminded him of Sasuke. She kept on hiding her face when Kakashi tried to see though.

            "My name is Linko Setsuna…" Setsuna said as she kneeled, laying Sasuke on the ground. Then she disappeared, without a word. Kakashi was totally confused. He slowly but cautiously walked towards his unconscious student. On his third step, Setsuna was on his back, a knife in his shoulder. "Hakke shunzi no jutsu!" He heard her whisper. Instantly, Kakashi disappeared into a log. Setsuna looked around, forming a seal at the same time. 'All I need is one hit with Hakke shunzi… then he'll go unconscious.' She was so good at using Hakke shunzi because she's been using it so much lately to make the sand/sound believe that she has killed for her missions. It was her technique that made the opponent _seem_ as if he died. She looked above her, and Kakashi came down, holding a kunai.

            Setsuna was too quick for him. Kakashi was surprised. Who _is_ this person? Usually I would have killed a normal sand ninja by now… he was thinking. Then, Hatake Kakashi fell unconscious just as his hand moved closer to his left eye. "…I was expecting more from you, Sharingan Kakashi. How pathetic. ::Humph::" She walked to towards Sasuke. She gasped. "Sasuke!" Sasuke was consciously standing, totally confused. His eyes were wide, staring at Setsuna.

            "Sis! What-" Setsuna instantly was behind him, cup-holding his mouth so that he couldn't talk. 

            "Sasuke… I am not you're sister. You don't have a sister. My name is Linko Setsuna." She laughed at him. "You fell for my magic. Now you belong to Orochimaru, so don't worry."

            Sasuke's eyes widened in fear and tragedy just as he was knocked out cold again.

                                                            *            *            *

            As the hour passed nine, Naruto and Hinata found Shino and Sakura sitting on the ground, gasping for breath. "What's going on?! We have to get Sasuke back! And we have to get that girl for what she's done to us!" Naruto said loudly. 

            "Naruto… we lost them… we're tired… let's go home and sleep…" Shino said as he walked off. 

            "NO! I'm not giving up!" Naruto said back as he chased onwards. But Sakura grabbed his arm.

            "There's no use… you don't understand how much I want Sasuke-kun back too, but… Varlene and that sound ninja are too fast for us. We should inform Kakashi-sensei about this before we get into this seriously, anyway." Sakura had a point. They were nearing the outer boundaries of Konohagakure.

            Naruto sighed loudly and slammed a fist on the ground as he fell to his knees. He was going to say something, but then Hinata stopped him. "N-Naruto-kun… Please don't worry. We'll get Sasuke-kun back. Sakura-sama is right. A Jounin should know about this before we take any serious action." Naruto slowly agreed. "Varlene-sama may even be tricking the enemy."

            Shino already gone, the three ninja's walked tiredly back to the village. Sakura abruptly started walking extremely slow. She fell to her knees, sobbing. "Sasuke-kun!" She screamed.

            Hinata bent down to calm Sakura. "Sakura-sama!"

            "I can't… go on… Sasuke-kun…" She trailed off in sobs.

            Naruto grinned. "Come on, Sakura-chan! You said yourself that we'll get Sasuke back. And with _me_ around, then there's _no_ doubting it!" He smiled at her. "Let's go home to get some rest." Sakura looked up at Naruto with a teary face. "I'll carry you home…" Naruto suggested.

            With one last sob, Sakura nodded and agreed that she could no longer walk. Hinata sighed, blushing as she looked jealously at Sakura. 

                                                            *            *            *

            "Orochimaru-kun…" Linko Setsuna walked up to the creepy lord. "I have brought to you Uchiha Sasuke." Sasuke was unconscious in her arms as she bowed. Setsuna now had sunglasses to hide her Sharingan eyes. She was creeped out by this dark guy.

            Orochimaru studied her confusedly. "Tell me you're name." He ordered.

            "Linko Setsuna, my lord. I come from the Sand." She bowed.

            Orochimaru was suspicious. But there was indeed Uchiha Sasuke. What more could he say? A sand ninja bringing to him what he wanted like a manipulated servant. He walked up to her and stared. Then he began laughing. "Finally! I can finally use my arms again! Kabuto!" He called. Instantly, Kabuto was in his presence. 

            "Yes, my lord…" He gasped when he saw Sasuke. "You-!" He ran up to get Sasuke in his own arms, bringing him into a certain room. Orochimaru followed evilly.

            Linko Setsuna quickly walked away from the building with an evil look on her face. She was definitely up to something…

            Who _is_ Linko Setsuna? What's she up to, and which side is she on?! …review and maybe I'll tell you in the next chapter… if there are enough reviews for me to make a next chapter… XD In other words, PLEASE REVIEW BECAUSE I REALLY FEEL KINDA LEFT OUT HERE! ::only has 3 reviews and one person that reviews for her::


	5. The Return

Chapter five: The Return

            As Uchiha Varlene runs towards her Sound hideout, she runs into Kakashi. He instantly grabs her in a headlock. "Where is Sasuke!? Tell me now!"

            Varlene answered, "He's in my hideout. But you're not allowed in there because I don't like you. Don't worry, Kakashi. You'll get you're Sasuke back. Go home and rest."

            "I will not rest until I know my comrade is safe." He said, making the headlock tighter.

            "Fine. I'll bring him to you right now." Surprising Kakashi, she was out of the headlock in seconds, appearing in front of him. At first, her eyes were closed. Then she moved her hand towards her mask to remove it. "But first… I have something to show you…" She reveals her face, and her Sharingan eyes. She gives him a few seconds to think, then she runs towards her 'hideout'. 

            Kakashi was astonished. "Uchiha? But earlier she said her name was something else…"

            "Sasuke-kun! You're finally awake!" Sasuke backed away, holding up a kunai. "No, no! It's okay now, it's me, Varlene, your sister. I know earlier I told you that I wasn't and that was an act. I had to make you think that I was you're enemy because you see…"

            "No…" Sasuke interrupted her. "I don't trust you!" He paused. "Why did you bring me to the Sound Country, where Orochimaru LIVES?"

            Varlene tried to smile. "I used Kage Bunshin and transformed my other bunshin into you, making it seem as if I was handing you over to Orochimaru. You see… I taught myself this other original jutsu that makes the Dechatinos in my body extremely contagious. With that jutsu, I can give Orochimaru the Dechatinos! There's no way he'll survive from that! And then what? The war would end! Right?"

            Sasuke was calmer. He put his kunai away and was less suspicious of his sister. "But that doesn't explain why you brought _me_ here."

            "Sasuke… remember when we were at the concert, and then the sound ninjas attacked us. I had no other choice. I planned it all right there when we faced that sound ninja. I planned all of this… Sorry, but I really had no other choice. You're okay now, right?"

            He wasn't. He did not want to be here. "Let's go back…"

            "Oh, Kakashi is outside, waiting. He doesn't trust me because when I was acting as the enemy I had to fight him along the way. Mind helping me out?" Varlene asked.

            "Whatever…" 

            'She sure is taking a long time…' Kakashi thought as he waited. As he watched Varlene approach with Sasuke behind her, he stared. They looked so much alike. "Kakashi-sensei, I'm back. Please meet my sister, Varlene-sama. I'll explain everything to you later on. Let's just get home…" Sasuke spoke.

            Kakashi looked at his watch. 1:37AM. He yawned and agreed to go home for now. But he was still confused, of course. 

            "It happened…" Varlene said with a smile. "We should be going quickly now… Orochimaru has found me out. And he's not happy." They all nodded and began running. 

            "You're da'm right he's not happy!" 

            Varlene turned her head, knowing the voice well. "Setsuna… what are you up to?! I thought we were in all this together and now you betray us?!"

            "Mikota…"

            The girl appeared in front of the three, sadness shown in her eyes. "You're not just going to leave us, are you?!"

            "Mikota… I'm sorry, but… I must go now. Our friendship has ended. If you're going to fight me, then fight me, but you're going to die if you do so. Please don't." Varlene said to her.

            "…You traitor…" She paused at first, but then turned her back and walked away angrily. Varlene was surprised. She thought that Mikota would try to stop her from leaving. Varlene nodded back to Kakashi and Sasuke and they continued running.

            "Who was that?" Kakashi asked her curiously while running.

            "That was an old friend of mine, Nakicho Mikota. She's a Jounin sound ninja, and she helped me out a lot whenever I went to the sound, which was quite often. I haven't seen her around lately though, in fact I don't think I've seen her in a year or so since the concert in Konoha. Oh and she always liked singing with me while I played piano." Varlene answered.

                                                                        *            *            *

            "Orochimaru-kun! Are you okay?" Kabuto asked his master, seeing how he mysteriously started bleeding all over his face and arms and chest, and how he started screaming in pain and coughing up blood.

            "That girl… Linko Setsuna, you… must track her down… and force her to tell what she did to me..!" Orochimaru ordered, coughing through his sentence. Kabuto attempted to heal him, but all it did was clean up the blood. The wounds continued to bleed.

            "I'll go now, but I'm getting help first. She's with Hatake Kakashi." Kabuto then vanished, leaving his master in helpless pain. Within minutes, though, the pain slowly went away. Orochimaru knew, though, that it would return. He felt horrible and felt as if he seriously needed rest.

            Kabuto ordered a few medical ANBU's to go and help Orochimaru, and they did. Then he considered chasing Setsuna. But he had no clue where they were at the moment. He knew where they were going so he went ahead and started his way there. Konoha.

                                                                        *            *            *

            Naruto could not go to sleep. Sakura, Hinata and he had already informed Tsunade-hime about the whole situation. It was past two o'clock in the morning. He was just too excited about what would happen the next day. He tried convincing himself that he had to sleep for upcoming events, but it didn't work. He just kept on stirring.

            It was the same for Sakura, only worse. She would sleep for five minutes and wake up in a cold sweat. She decided once to get out of bed and read for a while and then try going back to sleep, but her mind was too set on Sasuke-kun. She even tried eating something and then going to bed, but that didn't work either.

            Hinata had no problems going to sleep. She was too tired to be awake. Although it did wake her up when Neji came home really late from his mission. He must have had a lot of energy on him because he was making a lot of noise in the kitchen, getting food. He tended to be hungry whenever he was hyper. But Hinata went back to sleep once all the noise quieted.

            As for Shino, he got only two hours of sleep when he got home, but then spent the rest of the night training in the woods. It was a long night indeed, and he felt as if he didn't want to waste it.

            When the hour got towards three, Kakashi, Varlene and Sasuke reached Konoha in peace.

            "You both should go on and sleep then for the night. I'll inform the Hokage about what has happened tonight. Sleep in the same building, and stay alert. You, if you're his sister, you're not going to let anything happen to him. I'm counting on you…" Kakashi said to Varlene. She nodded. 

                                                                        *            *            *

            As time passed by, all were blessed with the worse sleep they had ever gotten. A pair of black eyes stared into the Uchiha household, as if haunting, though in wonder. The next day came by slowly…

**Sorry for the shortness of this chapter, but eh what can I say… I'm in a writer's block. I'll continue it. Eventually.**


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